Adoption: DNA solves a mystery

It only took 26 years, but Richard Hill now knows both his biological parents. Solving the family history puzzle took DNA testing, sibling testing, adoption file unsealing, lots of detective work and help from some specialized sources, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Richard Hill's father, on his deathbed, revealed a secret to his 32-year-old son: Richard was an adopted child.

The younger Mr. Hill was quickly able to learn who his biological mother was. But cracking the identity of his birth father -- shrouded in cover ups, lies and false trails -- took 26 years. In the end, Mr. Hill solved the mystery with the help of sophisticated DNA-based genealogy tests.

For most people who practice it, genetic genealogy is a hobby. But as the tests grow more powerful, people are starting to unearth family secrets. Many offspring of sperm-donor fathers are using Internet-based DNA searches to locate their so-called biodads. Others hope to identify unknown family members by connecting DNA profiles with last names.

In men, the Y chromosome is passed on from generation to generation, from father to son. So, usually, are last names. Accordingly, men with a close Y-chromosome match are more likely to have the same last name. A handful of Web-based businesses now offer DNA searches for male adoptees. Genetic searches along female lines are possible, but less effective, in part because many women take their husbands' names when they marry.

Hill tested with FamilyTreeDNA.com and found a genetic match, but his search started back in 1978, before anyone had thought of genetic genealogy.

Over the years, Hill investigated Detroit (where his mother was from), determined his mother's name, found people who had known her, found a half-brother and that his mother had died at 21 back in 1947. The search for his biological father was more complicated as his mother left many misleading clues.

Hill now has a website, DNA Testing Adviser, where he provides advice on family trees and adoption searches. He was helped by Jeanette Abronowitz, founder of Adoptees Search for Knowledge in Michigan, which claims it has helped some 2,000 adoptees find one or both birth parents.

After numerous wrong turns, he learned about FamilyTreeDNA and sent off a cheek swab resulting in one perfect match, whose surname figured in his mother's background.

He also received help from a Michigan genealogical society, discovering that the possible biological father had four brothers. He went to Genetrack Biolabs in Vancouver BC for DNA sibling tests and asked a son of each brother to be tested at his cost.

Read the complete article here.

British Columbia: Jewish genealogy, resources and techniques, May 13

Here's something for family history researchers in the Greater Vancouver area who are looking for Jewish ancestors. Our geneablogger community works together to let the right people know about programs in interesting locations.


M. Diane Rogers of CanadaGenealogy and the British Columbia Graveyard Rabbit let me know about the May 13 Jewish genealogy persentation at the British Columbia Genealogical Society.

Presenters will be archivist Janine Johnston of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia and president Catherine Youngren of the Jewish Genealogical Institute of British Columbia.

Janine will focus on JGSBC projects, collections and resources, while Catherine will talk on Jewish genealogy and techniques to find Jewish ancestors.

For more information, go to the British Columbia Genealogical Society website.

Thanks, Diane, for this opportunity to let Tracing the Tribe readers know about this program. And do check out Diane's two blogs if Canada plays an important role in your own quest.

And more for visitors: If you'll be in the Vancouver area this summer, you might be interested in the historic walking tours (two-hour tours cover about a mile) of Jewish Strathcona and Gastown, the early Jewish neighborhoods, offered on Sundays and Thursdays in June and July.

To see what the Jewish Historical Archives hold, click here for a listing; the reference room also offers free access to Ancestry.com and FindMyPast.com.

San Francisco: Family tree help, May 3

The Jewish Community Library (JCL) and the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society offer a free monthly genealogy workshop, "One-on-One Help With Your Family Tree." The next session runs noon-2pm Sunday, May 3.

The JCL is located at 1835 Ellis St. (free, secure parking).

The program begins with a brainstorming round table of experienced genealogists from both organizations, followed by one-on-one attention using resources from the library and the Internet.

Bring documents, family materials and a few questions that need answers before you can breakthrough your personal brick wall.

For more information, email the JCL. Mark your calendar now for the June 14 session, the final workshop of this program year; it will resume after the High Holidays.

Jewish American Heritage Month: May 2009

The road to family history takes many turns. Tracing the Tribe recommends that Jewish family history researchers investigate the Library of Congress Hebraic section. What better time to do this than now, during Jewish American Heritage Month with many events set for Washington, DC and online exhibits. The site was just completely updated (May 1) for the 2009 celebration.

In my case, the Hebraic section held two family treasures - slim volumes of Yiddish poetry by a young man, Leib Borisovich Talalai, who died in the 1941 Minsk Ghetto uprising. Peggy Pearlstein of the Hebraic Section arranged to have the two volumes copied and sent to me.

Years ago, writer Mikhail Shulman, former head of the Mogilev (Belarus) Jewish community, mentioned to me that there was a plaque on the wall of the Belarussian Writer's Union in Minsk mentioning Leib Borisovich Talalai and his death in 1941.

Although we know that all Talalai/Talalay from Belarus are related, I was unsure as his short bio indicated Baranovichi as home. However, as I deciphered Leib Borisovich's poems, I came across one that posed the concept, "if walls could talk," which described the family home and past generations in Vorotinschtina. This confirmed the relationship as our Talalai were among the founding families of the Vorotinschtina agricultural colony in 1832; they were the sons of Rabbi Leib ben Harav Mikhel Talalai of Mogilev.

Do check for works by European relatives in various LOC sections. We also have a few Talalai who have written music and history books and those are also available

May 2009 events include:

Tuesday, May 5, noon: Aviva Kempner's upcoming documentary “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg,” about American radio and television personality Gertrude Berg. Through film clips, she will explore how American radio and television personality Berg drew on her cultural heritage to pioneer a new medium. The program is sponsored jointly by the Hebraic Section and the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Mary Pickford Theater, third floor, James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE, Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, May 13, 6:30pm: Gershon Greenberg, 10th annual Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lecture on the Hebraic Book, “Breaking the Holocaust Silence: A Hidden Chasidic Text of 1947.” Whittall Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, DC. Gershon is a professor of philosophy and religion at American University. Reservations required (202) 707-3779.

Tuesday, May 19, noon: Laura Cohen Apelbaum and Wendy Turman of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, “Jewish Life in Mr. Lincoln’s City,” the society’s new exhibition and companion book catalog, in the African and Middle Eastern Reading Room, Room 220, Thomas Jefferson Building. An exhibit exploring the Jewish community in Washington and Alexandria during the Civil War is on display through May 31 at Washington Hebrew Congregation (Washington, D.C.), and from Sept. 11-Dec. 31 at Beth El Hebrew Congregation.

Other relevant exhibits:

Hannah Szenes, Parachute Commando: From 1943-45, a group of Jewish men and women volunteers from palestine parachuted into German-occupied Europe to organize resistance and aid in the rescue of Allied personnel. Szenes is one of the best-known of this group.

Desert Jewels: North African Jewelry and Photography: Jewish artists and craftsman, descendants of Jews who fled Spanish oppression and persecution beginning in the 13th century, contributed to North African coast artistic communities in urban centers. Jewish silversmiths living among the Kabyle of northern Algeria specialized in cloisonne enameling and introduced niello. See a photo exhibit.

Jewish Veterans of World War II: A group of US servicemen in the European Theater had a sepcial reason to fight Nazi Germany. Find video and audio interviews, personal correspondence, photos and more.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings: Recordings highlight the rich Judaic collection - Sephardic and Ashkenazi - including folk songs, religious music, classical literature, readings, children's songs and games and more.

Click here for additional exhibits, including collections, National Archives, Historic Newspaper Archive, audio/video, US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and teacher guides. Materials include both Sephardic and Ashkenazi sources.

A few newspaper articles:

"Condition of the Jews Today" – New-York Daily Tribune, August 25, 1901
"Future of Judaism of America" – The San Francisco Call, December 10, 1905
"Part Played by the Hebrew in the History of the Nation and State" – The Salt Lake Herald, November 19, 1905
"Some New Books - The Jewish Encyclopedia" – The (New York) Sun, September 28, 1902

Washington DC: Jewish museum panel, May 13

The National Archives in Washington, DC will celebrate the third annual Jewish American Heritage Month with a program - Exhibiting the American Jewish Experience - at 7pm, Thursday, May 21, in the McGowan Theater. The event is free.

A panel of speakers will discuss the creation and importance of Philadelphia's
National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH), scheduled to open in fall 2010.

The panel includes:

- Gwen Goodman, NMAJH executive director, moderator.
- Patrick Gallagher, president Gallagher and Associates, NMAJH exhibit design.
- Robert Young, Polshek Partnership Architects, NMAJH building design.
- Professor Jonathan Sarna, American Jewish History, Brandeis University.

For more information on the museum, click the NMAJH.

The new museum will be the first and only major museum dedicated to chronicling the American Jewish experience. Through exhibits, artifacts and interactive displays, the Museum will mark the trials and triumphs of American Jews through US history. It will explore the challenges of identity and assimilation and celebrate contributions made to American life.

NMAJH is currently building a five-story, 100,000-square-foot facility on Independence Mall in historic Philadelphia, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects. The capital and endowment campaign for NMAJH has raised nearly $120 million to date.

Massachusetts: Plymouth's Jewish history

Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims, the Wampanoags ... and the Jews?

The Jewish history of the historic town includes the 100th anniversary of Congregation Beth Jacob (CBJ) this weekend. From services to trolley tours of Jewish Plymouth, the community has organized an interesting celebration. Descendants of the congregation's founding families will come from all over the country - including California, Maryland, New York, and Texas - to participate, according to a story on Boston.com.

To commemorate the history, the congregation is asking past and present members and members of the public to share any memorabilia they might have from CBJ's 100-year history. They are looking for documents or photos of weddings, bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, Hadassah, B'nai B'rith or other historical items. Call 508-746-1575 if you have such material to share.

Several members have been researching the synagogue's history and have identified dozens of places in Plymouth where Jews lived and worked.

Karin Goldstein, a 17-year CBJ member, will lead two sold-out trolley tours of the landmarks on Sunday. She is the curator of original collections at Plimoth Plantation and holds a PhD in American studies from Boston University.

She has gone through street directories, vital records and censuses to put together a picture of the community, from around 1890-1935.

The Jewish community has been a presence in Plymouth since the 1880s. Over the years, they've opened businesses and built homes, stores, and offices, among other enterprises.

Congregation Beth Jacob, known among members simply as CBJ, built the first and only synagogue in Plymouth. The temple today serves not just Plymouth but also a dozen neighboring towns; other synagogues are 15 to 20 miles away. CBJ members drive in from Carver, Halifax, Hanson, Kingston, Middleborough, and Wareham.

The roots of the congregation can be traced to the 1880s, when Jewish immigrants settled in Plymouth in larger numbers and made their living as peddlers and shopkeepers. Some worked at factories, such as the Plymouth Cordage Co.

Congregation Beth Jacob was established in 1909, when 40 Jewish families formed the Beis Jacob Society. They began making plans to build a synagogue, recording their meeting minutes in Yiddish. At the time, daily and Sabbath prayers were held at home; on High Holy Days, the families would rent a hall. ...

Read the complete article for much more on the community's history.

New York: Dutchess County naturalizations, 1932-1989

New York's Dutchess County has received an Ancestry.com grant to scan and digitize naturalization records, 1932-1989. Records of some 20,000 individuals will be included.

The grant doesn't involve money; rather, ancestry.com will do the work to digitize original petitions for naturalization, signed oaths of allegiance and original photographs, according to the statement.

"I am very excited to see this worthy project become a reality," Kendall said. "These records record the bravery and the determination of so many who left a world they knew to travel to America seeking a more prosperous life."

The searchable database will be placed on Ancestry.com and available to the site's subscribers.

Michigan: Advanced Googling for Genealogy, May 3

Googling genealogists are always looking for strategies to find out more about their family history.

"Advanced Googling for Genealogical Purposes," with Pamela Buchstaber Smith, will be the topic for the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan at 1.30pm, Sunday, May 3.

The meeting will be held at the Holocaust Memorial Center, Zekelman Family Campus, in Farmington Hills, and has been rescheduled from its original March date.

For the past nine years Buchstaber Smith, the daughter of Russian immigrant parents, has been researching her family roots using her computer skills in solving genealogical mysteries of the past and the present.

Google, one of the best search engines available, has made it much easier for genealogists, family historians, etc. to discover information that otherwise could take days, weeks or even longer to find.

With tips demonstrating Advanced Googling, learn how to find books, photos, history, clothes, and news about your family much easier. Google alerts will bring information about your family directly to your email. Learn how to get information on your family from all those blogs out there? This talk will teach you all that and more.

She's a member of the JGSM and of the Flint Genealogical Society.

Fee: JGSMI members, free; others, $5. For more details, visit the JGSMI website or send an email.